Land-clearing destroyed 90,000 hectares of Queensland koala habitat in single year, analysis finds

Organisations such as WWF Australia have said the continued high rates of clearing in Queensland suggest the changes to the law have failed to curb habitat destruction. Photograph: Auscape/UIG/Getty Images

More than 90,000 hectares of koala habitat in Queensland was cleared in a single year, according to new analysis that finds most of that clearing occurred for beef production.

The analysis, produced by environmental organisation The Wilderness Society (TWS), examined the Queensland government’s most recent Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (Slats), which showed landholders cleared 680,688 hectares of woody vegetation in 2018-19.